THE APPRENTICE II

30

"Oh, sorry. I'll...I'll fix it later. Sorry." She apologized and he approached her with a slightly quicker pace.

The feeling was getting worse and worse. It was like her skin was tightening, stretching, and burning at the same time, if that was even possible. Her head was pounding and her bones seemed like they were breaking. She can fix this. This is the time to prove to him that she isn't as bad as he thinks.

The fear inside her was taking over. The pain only grew worse and worse, and any tears that fell only evaporated into steam.

"Hazel, I can help. Calm down." Strange got nearer, but she stepped back every time he advanced. Tis was something that only she should be fixing. He followed her nonetheless, the two staying cautious and steady until she backed up against a wall.

There was a stabbing pain that travelled through her arm, then a shattering sound followed. She looked down and discovered that her skin had hardened and fallen off, like it was porcelain. The area that had broken was hollow and her insides were replaced with light. All her blood had turned cold at the sight. It was burning, stinging, pulsing, and aching all at the same time. It was, by far, the worst and most unique thing she had ever felt. Stephen let out a an audible sound of dread after seeing this. The chaos only made the floor below her shatter, too.

This is going to kill her. This is unstoppable, and the only way she can make things better is by reducing collateral damage. Her hands were shaky as she attempted to make a portal.

"What? Where?," His voice was breathless and laced with anxiety.

"Don't follow me, I need to be alone." She warned him and decided to place herself in the first isolated place that her mind thought of: Everest.

"No!" He didn't think twice before making a few hand movements and knocking her unconscious.

The cloak darted to catch her and made it just in time before her entire body hit the ground. Due to some inevitable impact, however, a shard of her face broke off. The cloak left her in his arms.

Blood started to ooze out of the spot by her cheek— and quickly, too. She was bleeding out like a bottle of oil that had been knocked over. The concrete below her was beginning to pool with scarlet. He took a shaky breath in an effort to collect himself. He attempted to make a portal to the hospital, but his hands were trembling too furiously.

"Help! Wong! Someone help!" He stammered. His knees were too weak for him to support him. Wong arrived and a horrified expression washed over him.

"What happened?!," he shrieked

"Hospital! Now!" He sputtered, and the man instantly did as he was told. They raced to the establishment, the cloak wrapping itself around her and gliding through. "Christine! Christine!"

That voice and tone was too familiar for her to ignore. Christine placed the clipboard she was holding down by the front desk and jogged to the sound. He found the cloak darting to the nearest empty room it could sense, which was the supply closet. The three followed the relic's lead and the door flung open. On the way there, Christine wheeled a bed and took the nearest kit. They reached the interior of the room and locked it.

"What happened?" She asked, and the cloak unwrapped itself from her. She has never seen anything like it before, she was almost sick to her stomach. "Oh my god, what happened?! What is this?!,"

"It's complicated, just help her, please!" Stephen rambled and opened the kit, then washed his hands. He took notice of the state of his hands and banged his fist against the armrest. He gritted his teeth and clenched his hands to stop himself from flinging it across the room.

"Do you have the piece from her face?" She breathed and took a closer look. This was one of the most haunting things she had ever seen.

"It broke, it's gone." He answered quickly. "There must be another way. She's losing too much blood!"

She stared at the girl, her eyes scanning her body. She searched her mind for any possible solution to this problem. Her mind went blank. She ran her hands through the crown of her head, flustered.

"I-I...don't know what to do." She thought out loud with disbelief. "Turn her to the side."

They did as she said so the wound was facing the sky. That would at least stop it from leaking out of her body. She went silent once again. Wong placed his hands on his head.

"This is because of me." He said under his breath and leaned on the sink for support. Stephen ignored him.

"For Christ's sake, think of something!" He barked. There was a genuine frustration behind the doctor's eyes that set him off. "She's going to die!"

All he could do was wrap her in his arms and hold on for dear life. He prayed to all the gods, all the divine sources, anyone at all who could help.

"Please! Please! No, please!" He could only cry out a few words. He shut his eyes and attempted to do a time manipulation spell, but he couldn't access the stone's energy like Hazel could.

This couldn't be it. Not at this age, not when her life was just about to begin, not because of some petty thing wherein the last thing he expressed to her was his disappointment. It couldn't end like this, that would just be too cruel. His eyes went wide. "We could use a part of her arm! Her head bled, but her limbs didn't. We could break a piece off to patch it together!,"

"Stick her skin with what?" She questioned. This wasn't skin anymore, so they shouldn't treat it as such. "Skin glue, medical tape...fire?"

"We'll try everything." He put gloves on and took the medical kit. Wong rose up in hopes that they've found the solution. He approached them with wide eyes.

Stephen lifted up the scalpel and attempted to use as much magic as he could to stop the shaking. He aimed for her left arm.

"Sorry about this, Hazel." He muttered to himself. The back of the scalpel was just about to hit her skin in order to shatter it when Wong yelled.

"Stop!" He cried. The doctors jumped. He lifted her right arm, and the cracks that were once there were slowly being replaced with a gold like substance. "This wasn't here before."

He leaned in and tapped it with as little force as possible, using the back of the scalpel. It was solid, like it was made out of metal.

"It's regenerating." He announced. Christine went closer with the upmost fascination. "Her arm regenerated, but it also didn't bleed. We don't know if her head will do the same."
He walked to the top of the bed, they were all inches away from her face. It wouldn't make sense if her head didn't, right? Unless it was a fatal spot, but that didn't matter; it was still supposed to heal.

After waiting for what felt like an eternity, slowly, a golden film started to form. It was like he could breathe again. He slid down the wall and immediately gave in to sit. He slowed his breathing down. He placed a hand on Wong's shoulder and he did the same. He embraced Palmer weakly and muttered words of gratitude to whomever it was that answered his prayers.